Design Ideas

Durability and style are equal when choosing major home goods like hardwood floors

June 24, 2014

Buying quality furniture and other home goods should be seen in terms of function as well as style. Consumers want items they can count on to stand up to wear and tear and look attractive in their homes. As an example, wood floors like those in Anderson's Urban Loft collection have a subtle wood grain and texture but in hickory planks that can withstand constant foot traffic.

The same is true of the major appliances and pieces of furniture that furnish your home. Finding just the style and color that you want in a stove or refrigerator will make your kitchen look good, but making sure they also meet Energy Star standards will save you money on your utility bill.

When it comes to big-ticket items like sofas and beds, comfort is just as important as how well the piece fits your home design. But the construction has to be high quality to ensure it will last through a number of years and several decorating makeovers.

Function and style
Sofas are among the most heavily used pieces of furniture in a household, and one of the most expensive. As a result, the average consumer should know what to look for before making such a major investment. For those in the market for a new couch, love seat or sectional, it may help to follow a formula observed by professional designers.

To ensure long-term durability and classic beauty in choosing a new sofa, interior designer Courtney Jones told the San Francisco Chronicle that she advises homeowners to pay attention to the couch's form and frame for how well it will function and the fabric and fill for how it will feel and look.

The frame is the nuts-and-bolts construction that ensures the sofa's sturdiness, and hardwoods like alder, maple and oak result are among the best woods for this purpose. The form is about style - back height, arm rests and design lines. Choosing the right couch for a home means taking into account how the sofa will be used and how much space it needs to look right in the room design.

According to Good Housekeeping magazine, high-resilient foam will result in both comfort and long-lasting wear in a sofa. Cushion fill with a foam core surrounded by materials such as wool batting and Dacron is common in sofa cushions. Consumers also have available to them sustainable fabrics made of soy or organic cotton that wear well and are as attractive as synthetics.